Brandon Park, the 28,100-acre former estate of William A. Rockefeller, Jr. (a co-founder of Standard Oil with his brother John D. Rockefeller), has been purchased by Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma of China for $23 million according to the Wall Street Journal.
Alibaba is the world’s largest e-commerce company. He reportedly bought the property principally for conservation purposes, but may also use it as a personal retreat. Ma is chairman of the China board of the Nature Conservancy and is a member of the global board. The Nature Conservancy introduced Ma to the property, according to The Wall Street Journal. Ma has extensive experience in conservation projects in China, including co-founding the Sichuan Nature Conservation Foundation and the Laohegou Nature Reserve in Sichuan, which protects giant panda habitat and is the first protected area managed by a non-governmental organization in China. This is his first conservation project outside of China.